sophia_sol | Entries tagged with fandom: doctor who

Yesterday I saw a happy gifset from an old season of New Who and had positive feelings. That's the first time I've been able to do that in YEARS.

I am not exaggerating when I say that for two years after I broke up with Doctor Who, I couldn't think about the show without crying. I eventually got over that (...mostly) and entered a stage of aggressive apathy that lasted for several more years. I guess I might be finally moving on from that into whatever might be the next stage in my... grieving process, or whatever this is.

I don't really talk much about my breakup with Doctor Who because it feels embarrassing. Spending two years crying at every mention of a tv show does not feel very mature or reasonable. Even now if I think about Doctor Who in certain ways I get teary-eyed; writing this post got me a bit misty around the edges.

And I don't even really understand why this breakup hurt me so deeply. I mean, I felt that the show had betrayed my trust in it, yes, but I've been let down by narratives before and since, and never had a reaction anywhere even close to this.

I dunno. I guess Doctor Who has always had a special place in my heart. I still miss it, or at least miss what I loved about it when I still loved it.

That gifset I saw yesterday, the one that made me smile to see, was nothing but Nine and Rose grinning infectiously at each other. Characters who loved each other and the whole weird brilliant universe was what I loved best about that show, and the expressions on their faces just captured that feeling of joy.

I don't think I'm yet at a place of being able to rewatch any of the episodes I used to love, without breaking down in tears. But for the first time I feel like maybe someday in the future I might.

I love Doctor Who. I have loved it for five years; I have WATCHED it for five years. And I think y'all know how unusual that is, given my general inability to watch more than a few episodes of any given tv show. Doctor Who is important to me, and special to me, beyond any of my other fandoms! And...and currently I'm feeling that I have lost it.

( Cut for spoilers and personal angst )

Crossposts: http://sophia-sol.livejournal.com/161835.html

When I posted Scenarios I mentioned maybe doing a set of PUBLIC TRANSIT fic recs. Here it is! Because it is a glorious trope, and all of the following are glorious examples of the trope at its best. (okay, so some of them don't fit the standard trope pattern EXACTLY, but they still involve public transit so WHATEVER I'm including them anyways BECAUSE I CAN)

(I'm not including airplanes in forms of public transit for the purpose of this recs-set because it's not something I thought to tag as being this, but upon reflection it kind of is. Please forgive this lapse on my part.)

( 11 recs for SGA, CW RPF, Doctor Who, Inception, BtVS, AI RPF, and bandom )

Crossposts: http://sophia-sol.livejournal.com/142491.html

Things what I have done today:

One: YAY YULETIDE FICS. My utterly amazing author wrote me TWO utterly amazing fics about Sir Richard Francis Burton and made me ALL OF THE HAPPY with their utter amazingness. YOU GUYS. (TEI ESPECIALLY.) You know how I'm always saying how much I wish that a Richard Burton RPF fandom existed? In these two fics, my author has created EXACTLY THE FANDOM I HAVE ALWAYS WANTED. There is Personal Narrative, which is about actual canonical events in actual canonical Richard Burton's life, and is AMAZING, and there is Chai! or, the Unhappy Cafe, which is a barista AU (!!!), and is ALSO AMAZING. I highly recommend that you read them, even if your only familiarity with Richard Burton is that he's that victorian dude I keep on incomprehensively going on about! Because THESE FICS ARE GREAT is what I'm saying!

The two fics are very different from each other in tone and theme and time and setting and all that, but both are PERFECT. Personal Narrative is about how Richard Burton is all....Richard Burtony: ridiculously intelligent but incapable of being obedient, prudent, sensible, focused, polite, ET CETERA. Chai! is about a different aspect of Richard Burton being all Richard Burtony: extraordinarily offensive and racist and hateful and full of many appalling opinions about many things, and yet still somehow charming and captivating and -- yes, ridiculously competent at many things. (And also, of course, about how he fits remarkably well into a barista AU. His resume is a thing of beauty. :D)

Plus my author clearly knows more about Burton than I do! (heh, that's what comes of only reading about him in the context of the Nights, and then browsing his wikipedia article) And it is GREAT, because it means the fics are bristling with details that are clearly drawn from actual history and it makes it all feel so real, like Burton exists as a part of a WORLD. The fics are not about Burton in a vacuum!

So BASICALLY these fics are about how Richard Burton is ALL OF THE FASCINATING, and a very intriguing and complicated man, and in conclusion my yuletide is the awesomest of yuletides. THE END.

(actually not the end. The other awesome thing about yuletide! My recipient really likes the fic I wrote and said many complimentary things about it! My yuletide REALLY IS the awesomest of yuletides!)

(also I was telling my sister Mara all about the wonderful amazing fics I got for yuletide, and she asked who Richard Burton was, so I started explaining, and she interrupted me to say she owns a really excellent book about Isabel Arundell, who's his wife! BRB READING FOREVER as soon as we get home again where I can borrow it!)

Two: Watched the Doctor Who christmas special! GOSH I NEED TO GO BACK AND FINISH SEASON SIX. Because ~♥~DOCTOR WHO~♥~

Three: Spent lots and lots of time with family. I am so very grateful that I like my family a whole lot as well as loving them. Not everybody has that privilege. My parents and my sister are people who I genuinely get along with really well, who I actually love spending time with, and I just -- FEELINGS. Yes. I feel so fortunate.

(my extended family I am pretty fond of too! But they are very different from me and I do not get them on a number of levels. But there is never drama between us -- on this side of the family, at least -- and spending christmas with them is something I can genuinely enjoy, though I am also always happy to go home again afterward. Again: I feel very fortunate.)

Next up in my life: lots more family stuff! But I have taken a quick peek at my flist/rlist and I WANT TO READ OTHER PEOPLE'S YULETIDE FICS TOOOOOOOOOO and I do not have the time! I am stealing the time right now to write this post after everyone's gone to bed, as my only real opportunity. Dear self: going to bed now instead of staying up EVEN LATER to read yuletide fic would be a sensible idea. Please go be sensible. Okay? Okay.

Crossposts: http://sophia-sol.livejournal.com/138097.html

Conversations with non-fandom people about fandom: ALWAYS HILARIOUS.

Mara and I were talking over dinner today, and I was telling her about what I'd done today.

Sophia: So I'm reading this So You Think You Can Dance AU --
Mara: Wait, you like So You Think You Can Dance now?
Sophia: No, it's a Glee fic set on So You Think You Can Dance.
Mara: Wait, you like Glee?
Sophia: No.

And this turned into me explaining AUs.

Mara: But wouldn't it make more sense to have the Glee characters on that other show?
Sophia: American Idol?
Mara: That one.
Sophia: Sure, it might make more sense, but the point of AUs isn't to make sense.

*brief interlude where I talk about things like that unicorn/rainbow AU, and the peas/ketchup AU, and so forth*

Sophia: And there are even people who take the term curtainfic (er, that means fic with domestic themes) literally, and write about the characters as curtains.
Mara: What, like, "So, Brendon, here we are hanging in front of a window. Wanna have hot sex?" "Sure, Rory!"
Sophia: *CAN'T BREATHE FOR LAUGHING*

I then proceed to explain to her exactly who Brendon and Rory are and why the idea of them together is hilarious, and wonder aloud how it would ever actually work to get them together.

Mara: Okay, you said Rory's a nurse, right? So Rory and Amy go to a concert, and there's an accident and Amy dies. And then one of the people in the band is injured and they ask the audience if there's any doctors or nurses. And Rory wants to distract himself from Amy's death so he volunteers.
Sophia: *STILL LAUGHING*
Mara: Oh, or maybe the band is travelling -- how do bands travel?
Sophia: On tourbuses
Mara: So the band is on their tourbus in the rockies or something, and Rory and Amy are driving there as well on vacation, and there's an accident and Amy dies and the band members are all injured and Rory comes onto the bus to help, and things go from there
Sophia: *STILL LAUGHING*
Mara: Yeah, that makes much more sense than the first one.
Sophia: *STILL LAUGHING*

IN CONCLUSION, if anyone feels like writing Brendon Urie/Rory Williams fic? I WOULD READ IT. Although preferably without Mara's callous treatment of Amy....:P

Crossposts: http://sophia-sol.livejournal.com/129096.html

*is grumpy*

( Spoilers for the latest Doctor Who episode, which no, I have not yet seen )

Crossposts: http://sophia-sol.livejournal.com/124383.html

Okay. Okay. Deep breath, and I will try to think of something other than just the Delicious fiasco. Like Doctor Who! That's a cheering subject!

( spoilers for eps 9 and 10 )

Crossposts: http://sophia-sol.livejournal.com/123148.html

Hello the internet!

I am not actually here; I am briefly online atm with what internet I can borrow, but the internet in my new apartment won't be hooked up for another WEEK so mostly I am remaining bereft. It is pretty tragic!

But Mara and I are in our new apartment and it is heading in the direction of being mostly unpacked and that is pretty shiny.

Also I managed to watch Let's Kill Hitler, finally! Yay! ( Spoilers! )

Except now I won't be able to watch the new episode for a while because I do not have the requisite internet to, um, acquire it in a totally legal way. And I won't have the chance to get to the library for free wifi until at least Wednesday. Oh noes!

Also not having internet is putting a crimp on my whole read-all-the-bandom-fic-ever efforts. Alas. I NEED MY FIC FIX.

(Also not having internet makes the whole looking-for-a-job thing pretty challenging but we're not talking about job searching because that sucks.)

And now I must leave you again, fair internets! *single crystal tear*

Crossposts: http://sophia-sol.livejournal.com/119430.html

Okay so I'm not caught up on Doctor Who yet which is a tragedy but apparently my deep love of bandom fic transcends my ability to make myself stay in one place for long enough to watch Doctor Who, I DON'T EVEN KNOW. Because DOCTOR WHO. It is my ONE TRUE TV LOVE.*

WHATEVER. I'll be all over that tomorrow. Just you wait, Doctor Who, I am coming for you.

But this post is about something different!

By which I mean even more bandom things!

(I can't even. Every time I'm at my computer for more than like five minutes I find myself clicking back over to my "things to post" gdoc and adding yet more rambly thoughts about bandom because I have all these thoughts. Also feelings.)

Thing One: There is a picture from a My Chem photoshoot wherein Frank is holding a puppy. And do you know why Frank is holding a puppy? Because everyone was grumpy and didn't want to be doing a photoshoot, so Gerard left and CAME BACK WITH A PUPPY. To make them smile. IS THAT NOT THE MOST ADORABLE THING EVER?

(and I'm not even talking about the puppy here. GERARD. THAT IS WHAT IS ADORABLE.)

Thing Two: You know what is a mindfuck? Reading bandom fic and then accidentally going back too far in someone's fic tag and seeing their old posts about Due South and getting super confused over the references to Ray. Because CLEARLY Ray is a part of bandom. And then I'm like OH RIGHT DUE SOUTH HAS TWO RAYS OF ITS OWN.

Which means! I've already read the fic where Gerard is Fraser's illegitimate son. And I've got definite intentions to read the epic bandom/Due South fusion because I fully believe it will be amazing. But there totally needs to be fic about the three Rays. I'm just saying.

Thing Three: Um. So. Totally not into incest, right? But. Apparently, as long as the fic treats it as creepy and wrong, in the context of lots of creepy and wrong, I am capable of enjoying it? Like. The Gerard/Mikey serial killer au ficlet? I am ALL OVER THAT. Whyyyyyyyyy, self?

(also. I had heard about that concert with Gerard and Mikey and Mikey's chest but my memories deceived me into believing it was about Gerard fondling Mikey's chest. And then I was reminded, with video evidence, that IN FACT Gerard unzipped Mikey's jacket and licked his chest. WHAT EVEN, GERARD WAY. DO NOT ACTUALLY WANT.)

Thing Four: I only just recently realized that not!fic as a thing is actually largely a bandom thing. I mean, I have previously seen things like "here is a story that I am not writing", and then a brief synopsis or scene or snipped or something, but those are not very common. But in bandom, not!fic has become codified as a thing of its own right and it is everywhere. Enough so that I picked up on the total normality of it and wrote and posted some myself without even realizing the inherent bandom-ness of it.

But I kind of love the idea of not!fic as a thing that people do and that people enjoy, because it's a way more low-stress way of putting your stuff out into the world, so it's great that this way of doing things isn't, like, looked down on or anything. <33333 bandom for running with it so hard.

*no seriously. ONLY TV SHOW EVER which I am actually capable of keeping up with the canon for. I still sometimes can't believe that I have actually watched five and a half whole seasons of it. Because that never happens to me.

Crossposts: http://sophia-sol.livejournal.com/117729.html

Jack Layton is dead. I can't even.

Other people are saying far more eloquent things than I could, so I will leave it there.

Here, have a recs-set of HAPPY THINGS:

every aching old machine, by

longtime_lurker. Bandom; Pete/Patrick. OLD MEN IN LOVE.

Dolphin-Borne, by

carmarthen. The Eagle/Dinotopia; Esca, Cottia, Marcus. DINOTOPIA FUSION.

The Adventures of Lily and Severus (BEST BUDS), by

theopteryx. Harry Potter; Lily, Severus. ADORBS WEE COMIC.

Public Displays of Affection, by

philomytha. Vorkosigan; Cordelia/Aral, Alys/Simon. MIDDLE-AGED PEOPLE IN LOVE.

untitled, by dakotaaaa. Doctor Who; Amy/Rory. ADORBS DRAWING OF KISSING AND BUNKBEDS.

Choice of Broadsides. NAPOLEONIC WAR CHOOSE-YOUR-OWN-ADVENTURE, WHERE BEING QUEER IS AN OPTION. ALSO IT IS RIDICULOUSLY FUN.

Lose My Breath, by

deirdre_c. White Nights; Kolya/Ray. Vid, to a source you don't need to be familiar with (and it's not just me saying this). TWO DUDES. DANCING. IT IS AMAZING.

Crossposts: http://sophia-sol.livejournal.com/116111.html

Tonight some friends and I rewatched Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead. ( Spoilers for those episodes and for the more recent seasons )

Crossposts: http://sophia-sol.livejournal.com/106512.html

( DOCTOR WHO. SPOILERSSSSS. )

Crossposts: http://sophia-sol.livejournal.com/102217.html

Thing One: ( More Doctor Who thoughts! In point form! )

Thing Two: I am now four episodes into Hawaii Five-0. Okay. This show has some really skeevy morals wrt things like, oh, violence and accountability. Really skeevy. I do not like them, Sam-I-Am. So WHY DO I LIKE THIS SHOW? *headdesk*

Thing Three: So, today I watched Lady Gaga's latest: Judas. Now there is a video and song that wants some serious religious deconstruction.

Thing Four: Damn. I keep on seeing stuff on my flist right now about remix_redux, and it looks like such fun! Of course, I'm only hearing about it now that the stories are being posted, instead of back when I could have signed up.... But I couldn't have signed up anyways! Because you need to have at least one fandom in which you've written five or more fics of >500 words. And I haven't, because I'm disgustingly polyfannish. I come close in Highlander, but I'm still not quite there.

Oh well, it means I have something to aim for next year, yes? Write at least one more Highlander fic before the next remix_redux, and I'll be golden! (ahaha, in, um, almost all of my other fandoms I'd have to write FOUR more fics (or FIVE)... Yeah. Not happening.)

Crossposts: http://sophia-sol.livejournal.com/99962.html

( OH MY GOD DOCTOR WHO )

Crossposts: http://sophia-sol.livejournal.com/99747.html

OKAY. I have caught up on my rlist; tomorrow, my flist!

In the meantime, have some ( Doctor Who spoilers! )

Crossposts: http://sophia-sol.livejournal.com/98600.html

Hahaha, YET AGAIN posting something while being woefully behind on my f/rlist! But I have two important things to talk about. One is a YAYS and one is a NOES.

THE YAYS: ( DOCTOR WHO! Spoilers, obviously. )

And that is all for Doctor Who.

THE NOES: THIS GETS NO CUT. Because it is only a spoiler for REAL LIFE. Specifically the Canadian election. GODDAMN CANADA HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME. Harper is a bad idea. The Tories in general, actually, are a bad idea. And you elected them into a MAJORITY. I am a bit bitter! Also Harper is going to be INSUFFERABLE. Er. Even more so than usual, I mean. WHYYYYYYYYYY.

On the positive side, at least the Bloc has gone WAY down in terms of number of seats? Like, ten percent of the seats they had last time, or something like that! Also, the NDP has gone way up in number of seats, which is AWESOME. Also, omg the Green Party HAS AN ACTUAL SEAT. ONE WHOLE SEAT! GO ELIZABETH MAY! (Here, have a fic about her: Nothing Rhymes with Ignatieff but Orange. It is great. Also weirdly prescient in some ways, and entirely off-base in others! Actually, while I'm at it, have another fic, one about Stephen Harper. It is somehow adorable, despite being about unrequited Peter MacKay/Stephen Harper: Second Guessing.)

(also: Dear Ignatieff: please step down as leader of the Liberal party. You got DEMOLISHED. There is a reason. You didn't even win in your own riding! Let someone else, someone better, take charge, please? Yes, I know, I'm still bitter about how poorly Stephane Dion did last time around. I liked him and he failed miserably. And then he did the honourable thing and STEPPED DOWN, because it was clear he wasn't being a successful leader of the party. YOU SHOULD TAKE A HINT.)

OKAY DONE RANTING NOW. I think my mom wants the internet now anyways.

Crossposts: http://sophia-sol.livejournal.com/98134.html

I have not had time to watch the latest Doctor Who episode today (and I won't for AGES....! WOE.) but unlike last week I was WEAK and read everyone's reaction posts.

And it reassured me that yes, I AM in fact totally okay with spoilering myself beforehand. Sometimes I end up convincing myself that I can't actually be as down with spoilers as I think I am, because everyone else in the universe it seems has at least a minor dislike of spoilers.

Anyways. Now I am super looking forward to seeing the ep myself, so I can compare my opinions to that of the various people on my f/rlist who've posted their thoughts!

And incidentally, it is fascinating to see the different things that different people focus on as being important, and the idea of the episode that these conflicting importance-o-meters put in my head. It'll be fun to see what things I end up focusing on that other people didn't, and which things I'll notice that I otherwise wouldn't have because of reading the various posts!

ANYWAYS.

BEDTIME. I have to be up early in the morning to catch a plane!

(oh yeah -- I'm going on a trip to a part of the world I've never been to before! I'm very excited. I should get internet in my hotel room, though, so I won't be cut off! I'll just be in an extremely different time zone.)

Crossposts: http://sophia-sol.livejournal.com/97919.html

I am not catching myself up on my flist and rlist from being gone for an extended Easter weekend. SO MUCH TO DO IN MY REAL LIFE. SO BUSY. AHHHHH. (I hate moving. Why do I own so much clothing? Why do I own so many books? And why does there have to be MOLD on a bunch of my books? DO NOT WANT!) But! I cannot resist posting more about Doctor Who. Because let's face it, when can I ever resist ANYTHING to do with Doctor Who's awesomeness?

( So here is a bunch of spoilery discussion of The Impossible Astronaut. )

Crossposts: http://sophia-sol.livejournal.com/96574.html

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

*deep breath*

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I managed to find the time during my family Easter Weekend to watch the new Doctor Who episode and I don't have the time for a proper reaction post but AHHHHHH DOCTOR WHO IS BACK AND AS BRILLIANT AS EVER OMG I CAN'T WAIT TILL NEXT WEEK.

That is all.

Crossposts: http://sophia-sol.livejournal.com/96479.html

I am visiting my extended family for easter this weekend. Doctor Who's first episode of the season airs this weekend. DILEMMA! Do I:

a) not watch it till I'm back home, and avoid all spoilers till then
b) not watch it till I'm back home, but avidly spoiler myself as soon as possible
c) say screw you to my family and sequester myself for an hour to watch the episode right away

All of these have their pros and cons.

I am usually a very spoiler-happy person, as you probably know. I spoiler myself wilfully and gleefully. But Doctor Who is so very much my happy place, and I know that I am easily influenced by other people's thoughts, and I am concerned that if I read people's reaction posts and they aren't entirely joyful, then my squee will be harshed upon my later watching of the episode. If I could guarantee all the reactions would be solely squee, then I'd totally spoiler myself with pleasure. But I can't!

But on the other hand, DO I HAVE THE WILLPOWER TO RESUST THE ALLURE OF SPOILERS? I sincerely doubt it.

It would all be solved if I could just watch the episode right away, but I don't know whether I'll be able to find the time to do that in a house stuffed full with 15 people, most of them extroverts....

Well, off I go. Tomorrow I leave bright and early with my grandparents for the long drive. I hope y'all have good weekends, whether you celebrate easter or not!